SAVING THE DAMSEL

Chapter 4: His Face Exploded

Castle: Midnight:

Victor wore his thick Wasteland suit. He smirked at his brother. "Follow me; I have something to show you in the Wastelands."

"Are you planning to kill me?" Thackeray grabbed his thick jacket and helmet.

"No," Victor said without emotion. His eyes mimicked a blank canvas.

Both princes entered a crystal elevator, and in less than a minute they were at the underground entrance to the Wastelands, but not further down, to the kingdoms below the surface.

Wendy snored, and sounds echoed as distant music.

Hundreds of the hidden passageways existed for half-frozen travelers, but most were unused, except for unreliable supply trucks.

Thackeray passed through the underground graveyard for the departed protective domes.

Sharp headstones marked each one and spiraled upward.

Workers dug a fresh grave and carved the name, Wendy Kingston, into the granite.

"Is this what you wanted to show me? Why are they digging my daughter's grave?" Thackeray asked. "You signed the contract to protect her, and you'll keep that promise!"

Victor lunged at him with his burning laser dagger.

Thackeray twisted the fiery weapon out of his brother's polished hand. He stepped on it and broke the light blade into embers.

"I have more." Victor attempted to pull out a dagger. "I'll don't want to kill you, but I will do anything to save our people."

"My not leaving you with shattered bones is a mercy. You live because I'm offering you kindness, and murder is wrong. And I don't care if Petunia's lurking troops try to kill me."

"It's in Tribeca's interest to slaughter the protective dome. Because she is next in line to take down our family, and Wendy is part of that family. Tribeca isn't evil. Your daughter will become a monster, and I'm sorry."

"I don't care what that stupid prophecy book says. Wendy will never betray her oath! She will never fall. The book keeps rewriting itself, and I'll find a way to save my daughter."

"That creature is no longer your daughter." Victor clutched his glowing dagger. "I still plan to show you what happened to the men who kidnapped Blackstone. Alva found him, and we'll meet with him later."

Both men bribed the guards at the exit to the Wastelands. Dozens of tunnels existed for centuries.

The prince's helmets mimicked those of Earth's astronauts, and their jackets kept them warm, but only for a moment.

Snow fell over them.

A glowing sign flashed, Windchill is not factored in. -68 °F (ca. -56 °C)

The ice walkway froze in such a way that it didn't melt when stepped upon by their thick leather boots, and the princes walked on it, like any other asphalt-covered road.

The broken wasteland stretched into the horizon. Icy rocks, covered with algae patches, and alien-like blue, bioluminescence, mushrooms, were the only plants that survived.

Skeletons of sirens and massive fish glistened in the moonlight underneath the frozen lake.

The princes walked further.

Rat-like creatures with three tails ran across Victor's boot, but he didn't scream.

A three-pound adult dragon flew from the sky and dragged the rats into a small fire cave. Tufts of smoke bellowed outward.